OBAMA ADMINISTRATION PLANS CAMPAIGN TO ‘STRENGTHEN’ UN…

Susan Rice, President Barack Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, will
argue in a major address Friday evening that the U.S. should “strengthen” — not
“starve” — the world body.

The address is the first in a series of
speeches — to continue this spring – making the case to the American people
about why the U.N. matters to national security, and how it is being
improved.

House Republicans failed this week in trying to get $180
million in overpaid dues back from the United Nations. The effort was widely
panned by New Yorkers in Congress as damaging to security.
The ambassador will be speaking to the World Affairs Council of Oregon, in
Portland.

“The U.N. provides a real return on our tax dollars by
bringing 192 countries together to share the cost of providing stability, vital
aid, and hope in the world’s most broken places,” Rice says in prepared
remarks.

“Because of the U.N., the world doesn’t look to America to
solve every problem alone. … We’re far better off working to strengthen the U.N.
than trying to starve it—and then having to choose between filling the void
ourselves, or leaving real threats untended